Ever since I was in middle school and helped a Cub Scout den as a Den Chief (think leader’s helper) I have loved teaching and helping others. It is a passion of mine and one in which I find great fulfillment. Fast forward, I have had a YouTube channel since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down my school’s in person classroom in March 2020. It seems like a long time has passed but in truth it really has not. With this introspection I have undergone a lot of personal goal setting. Where do I see myself in 5 years or farther down the road in 10 years? What would I like to achieve for myself and what would I like to achieve for my family?

If I am completely honest, the YouTube videos fulfilled a central selfish purpose, I was cooped up and all of my reenactments and living history events were cancelled. Even my children’s Scout meetings and campouts were limited or cancelled. That is not how I like to spend my free time, I have a need to socialize and I have a need to recharge my batteries by being in the outdoors where food tastes better over a campfire, camaraderie is alive with stories and shared experiences, and arguably just as important to me is learning from the experience and teaching others what I know. I have become a better student by being a teacher and vice versa.

As time went on and the YouTube videos became a regular outlet my confidence grew due to the support and appreciation of others for what I was doing. I am not a competitive person by nature but seeing new subscribers joining my channel and the more support I got the more I enjoyed making the videos…I guess because now I had an audience…a “classroom” of people who wanted to see and hear what I had to show and say. This is a teacher’s natural drug, every educator wants a captive and engaged audience and when the lightbulb clicks on the dopamine pushes us forward and we feed off of that golden light to sustain us and our efforts. Though these moments are not as often as we would like they make all of the frustrations of the job worth striving through.

This takes me to the heart of what is on my mind’s desk, my ambition. What do I want for myself and my family in the next five years and how will I get there? Short, small, and calculated steps. I am currently in a position where I am making the first small step, that is to start this blog to complement my YouTube Channel. It will offer me a place to put my thoughts, research, passions, love of learning and teaching, and hopefully igniting a spark in someone else or helping someone turn the lightbulb on. My measure of success will be the subscribers to my YouTube Channel and the interactions they have with me. As my channel grows and the readers of my blog increase, new opportunities will show themselves and my 5 year and 10 year goals will be more attainable.